heavy duty

With what looks like only 17 coaches voting, it's kinda irrelevant now. Plus, the 9th only has 4 coaches that are members, so you can't expect much love from the home front. Only 9th region team many of these voting (western KY) coaches have seen is probably Ryle, at the state tournament, so they'll default vote for them. That's my best guess. I'm slightly surprised by the Holy Cross win over Scott County, but not shocked. HC is a solid team. Had Ballard beat, but couldn't close the deal giving up 5 with 2 out in top of 7th at home. Dropped a Sun. afternoon game to Mercy 1-0, and hung with Male through 7 in an 4-1, 8 inning loss early in the season. Maddie Raye has been pitching lights out. I This time of the year with all of the outside distractions, it's hard to predict which team is going to show up anywhere. I saw it the other night with the whole "Senior Night" thing prior to the game, then the game starts and the girls are out there in a coma. I have to think Regions Week falling at the whole graduation/end of school time, a coaches biggest challenge would have to be keeping 25 teenage girls focused and on the same page even more so than any strategy or game plans. Geez, it's probably like herding cats at a laser show during the good weeks!!

that's 2/3 of the season in KY

Pretty darned impressive

Yeah, I think everyone there thought we were headed to a 0-0 tie, I know I sure did.

Ha! I didn't know that wrinkle in the tale. We got about 5 mins down the road and he called my phone to ask if we'd come back. If you'd have called in that 5 mins., I'd have been drinking your beer all summer!!

Morgan and her sister, Kayla, are the sweetest kids, and I wish nothing but the best for them. Any praise or accolade that comes their way is earned through hard work. It was great to be able to sit together with their Dad at the game and watch our DDs in a pitcher's duel the other night. Those are my favorite times at the ballfield.

Yeah Dan, Greenwood is good, and they have a few real studs. They have that winning culture there. Some in their bunch on our side of the fence can be a little grating from time to time, but they're program is effective. I was a little surprised by the scores from the OH teams that came across the river over the last few weeks.

Some good younger kids coming up from Soph to 8th grade, but only Wireman in Jr.-Snr. classes. I've been trying to talk to some of the parents about higher level travel, but it's KY,so it's a hard concept for them to grasp. There are a few of the younger kids that are going that direction. It's a culture change, and that has been the biggest challenge for Bloomer this season. He is changing an entire program that has had a lot of underdeveloped talent, underinformed families and a "play not to lose" rather than a "play to win" mentality, I believe. Male was winning 25 games a year in the past, but never competed for the Region Title. They could have gotten anybody to "maintain". That is the biggest difference. To me, season Ws & Ls mean nothing compared to that big wooden trophy that says "Region 7 Champion". It is a process, and it is not without bumps in the road, but I couldn't be happier as a parent, and know they got the right guy. Scott Co. is really good. I can see the ranking. They have a great pitcher, a really good pitcher and love to slug the ball. Not much finesse. There #1 & #2 hitters are tough outs. In Saturday's game Jess was 21 pitches deep after two batters to start the game!! I thought, "Man they're pissed from the last game. This is not going to go well", but she settled in. Not many people know about Jess' pitching, though, since last coach didn't pitch her. Her teammates know and seem to really play up when she's in the circle, but there a a lot fewer barreled up balls too. I think her being out of the circle for 5 weeks in the middle of the season may help at this time of the year. We'll see. I ready for summer!!

I'd say they'll get back up to the high to mid teens where they've been all season. When they bear down and compete they can play with anyone, then look like their gloves are on the wrong hands next game. It is definitely a process of teaching and learning with such a young team, and with changing the culture of the program at the same time.

For the 2nd time in three days, Male Bulldogs 2 hit #2 Scott County. This morning on the turf at Boyle County, Scott County came out ready for redemption getting 2 hits and finally plating a run against the Bulldogs. After that the Cardinals could only muster 3 walks against Jessica Wireman, who ended the 4 inning time limit game with 4 Ks. At the plate, Male put together 2 walks and 4 hits to plate 4 runs with only 1 K. I was thankful for the turf field at Boyle County with the weather we had this weekend which allowed the games to be played, but did not like the game play at all. It was very unnatural.

I've seen it tougher to hit bad pitching. Good pitching=hittable. Bad pitching=lot of popups and swings at bad pitches. Great pitching=extra time in the dugout, out of the sun. Great job for Hailey!!

Just down the road, in the heart of the Bluegrass, 24th ranked Louisville Male rolled into Georgetown to face #2 Scott Co. in their last Home game of the season, and left with a W. The game was quickly paced as Male pitcher Jessica Wireman kept the Redbirds in the dugout, fanning 11 with no walks all while allowing only 2 hits, both to Scott County SS and University of Evansville commit Michal Luckett, who was the only Redbird not to strike out. Scott County pitcher, Marlee Tevis, was also very efficient, allowing just 1 run on 4 hits, 1 walk and 2 strike outs. Male plated their only run in the top of the 2nd as Keri Hammond hustled around from 2nd base on a throwing error to first by Scott Co. 2nd baseman, Jordan Franchino. That was all Wireman needed in her first full return to the circle after being out for 4 weeks due to injury. As a fan of the game this was an outstanding game to watch, knowing that the Redbird's hot bats could break it open at any point, but Male's D was air tight including a timely layout face plant into the fence by catcher Mandy Johnson on a bunt foul pop out. Final Line: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E MALE 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 SCTH 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 Now if the rain doesn't interfere, these teams will face each other again in three days at the Boyle Co. tournament.

Tim has that in the Player/Parent Contract.

Which proves the point. If the ump doesn't have enough grasp on the rules of the game to keep up with changes, then they should not be able to ump the game, much less games of THAT level. My lament for fastpitch in this state doesn't fall on the girls nearly as much as it does A.) the lack of quality coaches and B.) terrible umpires. How are players supposed to improve their eye and sense of the strike zone with what gets called in some of these games coupled with a lack of consistency. For the last 5 years, I've watched about all of our home games from the press box, about 12-15 feet behind and 15-20 feet above Home plate, and some of these yaps are ridiculous with how wide they call the zone. One thing I'd suggest is if you know you're going to be umping a game with, not just Josh, but ANY coach that is "known" to utilize the DP/Flex rule, why not brush up on it beforehand, rather than coming in unprepared to do your job as arbiter of the game? Better yet, LEARN THE RULE!! And that is just one rule (which is not as confusing as people make it out to be). How many times have you been at a game when a KY HS ump blows a call or makes some bone headed judgment that has nothing to do with the actual game play rule, and then puts on the "I'm the boss here" attitude? Pi**es me off!! I think the level of play by the girls and the level of coaching is quickly outpacing some of these old fogeys. Time to Cowboy Up, Blue or stick to the middle school/rec league games, and make room for some new blood that will take their craft serious. (we now return you to your regularly scheduled programming)

Yeah, here in the Louisville area, it's pretty slim. Same bunch of yahoos every game. Probably have 4 total I would call good and none I would call great. Literally had one old codger Wednesday, that couldn't keep up with the DP/Flex changes and finally just threw his hands up and told both coaches, "I don't want to hear any more about it". Add rule-ignorant parents yelling in from the stands, and it was a comedy show!!

NDA....just because :whistling:

From NCAA Scoring Rules 14.24.2 When a runner who began the inning on second base during the tiebreaker scores and the pitcher is held accountable for all bases gained, score the run as earned but charge it to the team total and not to the individual. 14.30 Tiebreaker Rule 14.30.1 A run scored by the player starting as a runner at second base shall be charged to the defensive team and not the pitcher. Whether a run scored by any other player shall be charged to the pitcher is up to the judgment of the official scorer. So, yes it is an "earned run" counted towards the TEAM ERA, but not the Pitcher's ERA......and the Pitcher's Dads Cheer!! :dancingpa

I've had this article saved to my desktop for a while. It's a good one. Nice to pull up and read through on occasion.

Imagine the powerhouse that may be created when Heath, Lone Oak and Reidland combine next year into McCracken High School. Heard they will announce as soon as State is over who the coach will be. That's going to be a challenge bringing three highly talented teams together; who to keep, who to cut, who to play, who to coach, but man, it could really turn out to be something big.

She's been on the shelf pitching-wise with a shoulder issue for past few weeks. Don't think it's major. She's still playing CF and hitting like a champ. Anthem won't approve an MRI without 2 weeks of PT (I won't jump on THAT soapbox), so we'll know more early next week. X-rays didn't show anything wrong. Hopefully she'll be ready in time to ambush a couple teams at the end of May, and then roll into the Blue and Black. That's the plan. Male's biggest issue is lack of games. Rain outs have made it tough, as you all know. Only had 19 games, while everyone else around here is closing in on 30. A couple "top" teams (*cough* Mercy, *cough* Eastern)won't reschedule, but they'll pick up games against J-Town and PLD. Big game at Ballard tonight. I'll post an update for you tomorrow. Hope it's good!! Lost one very good frosh pitcher for the season with a knee injury, so it'll be a big hit if Jess isn't able to get back in the circle. Weather is cooperating this week. Going to be a challenge getting to 36 without too much wear and tear, cramming May full. Love hearing all these great updates on DK and HS. Hoping our KY3 can put together a great summer!! I am REALLY looking forward to it. They're both great kids.

Pitching in KY is becoming BP, with a few exceptions.

I don't know how it comes down in the "official" scoring world, but I just went back and checked how GameChanger tallies it, and GC does NOT count it as an ER....(based on my input of runner being placed on 2nd) My first guess would have been that it would not be an ER, but would not be surprised if some obscure ruling comes to light that confirms it to be and ER.

Most do, I agree. And I think the ones that are out there that are knowingly padding stats are an even smaller minority. I think "most" questionable stats come from ignorance rather than someone trying to be sneaky.

KY DOOMers!! You know how it is, Big Daddy.

Male uses Gamechanger and it auto-uploads to Maxpreps. I still don't trust half of all high school stats, though. I had a Mom get sideways with me earlier this season after I explained to her that her DD's hard ground ball to the RF, who then muffed the catch AND throw, was a solid single with a 2 base error, NOT a triple. Lot of those Moms scattered through the state keeping stats. "No, that is called a Fielder's Choice, not a hit"